The Cook Family hits Wisconsin!

As a child, I spent a lot of time in the great cheese state of Wisconsin. My grandparents lived in Burlington before they died, and we visited often.  We also spent time as children at the great Milwaukee event known as “Summer Fest.”  We never actually went to Summerfest.  We only went to Polish Fest…

Coaster loops at Kings Island.

Hitting Kings Island on our road trip!

Last summer, we hit Cedar Point.  This year, we saved our Coke Reward Points and scored tickets to Ohio’s other theme park, Kings Island.  I like to pretend to go to the park an re-enact that one episode of the Brady Bunch.  However, no one else in my family knew what I was even talking…

Jen at CNN

Touring CNN in Atlanta

It pays to have friends in the TV business! One of my former co-workers now works at CNN in Atlanta and offered to give us a tour while we were in town.  The big news nerd in me knew that was too good to pass up! It was a Saturday, and things were pretty slow. …

Penguins at Georgia Aquarium.

Road Trip: Georgia Aquarium

After our great World of Coke visit, we walked across the courtyard to the Georgia Aquarium. This place is amazing! Granted, it was very crowded the day we went.  But other then problems trying to find a place to sit and eat, it didn’t matter.  The way each animal attraction was set up was pretty…

World of Coke

Touring World of Coke in Atlanta

We are not huge soda fans in the house.  But there is nothing more that my kids love than “drinking soda around the world” at EPCOT.  They have a great area called “Club Cool” where you can try about 8 different flavors of soda from around-the-world.  So on our road-trip, we decided it was time…

Purdue

Road Trip Highlights: UF and Purdue

As you have seen from our road rules, we like to stop at college campuses if we are in the area.  On our 2013 road trip, we drove through Notre Dame and the University of Michigan.  This time, we drove through the University of Florida in Gainesville and Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana.  The idea…

RIP Elaine Stritch: Best 30 Rock Quotes

“Two women Jack…at the same time? What are you, Italian?” “You give me 10 minutes with the Lemon family, and I’ll have them tearing at each other like drag queens at a wig sale.” “Oh, for crying out loud, Liz. You see, that’s what feminism does. It makes smart girls with nice birthing shapes believe…

Marco Island Trip Report

Apparently vacation was so great and relaxing that I didn’t finish writing about it. Here are the highlights: •Marco is one of my favorite places in the world. It’s funny that they have only two seasons. On and off. I prefer off season. •The trip to Tigertail Beach is worth it. I refuse to take…

Patrick meets Cayenne at the Georgia Aquarium.

Patrick Meets a Penguin

Guest post by Patrick Cook – Age 8: His name is Cayenne (like the pepper). He’s the 3 month old penguin that I met at the Georgia Aquarium. We got to walk around the aquarium and see all sorts of animals.  I got to touch a sting ray.  We also go to see otters. We…